Receptacle holder



March 21, 1967 M, E. LARKIN ETAL REGEPTACLE HOLDER 2 Sheets-sheet 1 Filed Jan. 5, 1966 INVENTORS M. EL LARKIN R. G. MARRS A TTORNEVS March 21, 1957 M. E. LARKIN ET'AL 3,310,266 I RECEPTACLE HOLDER Filed Jan. 5, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /N VE N TORS M. E. LARKIN R, G, MARRS vl1 Taf-Wj; c# Klik??? A 7` TORNEYS United States Patent O 3,316,266 RECEITACLE HOLDER Mark E. Larkin and Robert G. Marrs, Bartlesville, Okla.,

assignors to Phillips Petroleum Company, a corporation of Deiaware Filed Jan. 5, 1965, Ser. No. 5l8,z%6

8 Claims. (Cl. 248-154) This invention relates to receptacle holders and intermediate articles thereof.

Receptacles such as trash cans and the like can and are being made substantially lighter than their predecessors because new materials available such as improved plastics exhibit substantially greater strength-to-weight ratios. This all leads to a problem of the lighter trash cans and similar receptacles being more subject to being tipped over by wind, animals, and other vagrancies of nature.

It has now been found that such receptacles can be made to remain standing under even the most severe conditions by employing a receptacle holder which is formed from a base means which is spaced above the level of the supporting surface, eg., the ground, by a leg means and which also carries opstanding holding means adapated to receive the receptacle around at lleast a portion of its periphery and engage the receptacle in varying degrees of firmness depending upon the weight of the receptacle and any contents therein. Thus, by this invention as the receptacle becomes heavier and dellects the base portion downwardly the opstanding holding means are forced inwardly against the receptacle with greater rmness, thereby providing a more rigid assembly at a time when tipping of the receptacle is least desirable, i.e. loaded with contents such as trash.

Due to their symmetry and hollow configuration the holders of this invention can be formed by conventional methods such as blow molding so that the leg means of each of at least two holders are integrally joined to one another thereby defining a hollow article composed of at least two of the holders. This intermediate varticle can readily be separated into two separate holders by severing same through a center line around the periphery of the integrally joined legs of those holders.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved receptacle holder. It is another object to provide a new and improved intermediate article from which more than one receptacle holder can be formed.

Other aspects, objects, and the several advantages of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the description, drawings, and appended claims.

FIGURE 1 shows a cross section of a holder embodying this invention.

FIGURE 2 shows a plan view of the holder of FIG- URE 1.

FIGURE 3 shows an intermediate article embodying that aspect of this invention.

In FIGURE l there is shown a holder generally denoted by reference 1 which comprises a base means 2 supported above the supporting surface 3 by a leg means d. Leg means 4 and base means 2 join together to form upstanding and inwardly directed holding means 5 which are adapted to engage receptacle 6 in a groove 7 around the periphery of the lower outer surface thereof. Optional, auxiliary anchoring means 8 is provided for more rmly connecting holder 1 to the supporting surface 3. Supporting surface 3 can be any conventional entity such as wood, concrete, ground, and the like.

FIGURE 2 shows separate, distinct holding means 5 around the periphery of base means 2. Holding means 5 can extend continuously around base means 2 as well and can also be subdivided int-o as many smaller individual holders as desired. Apertures 9 are provided for receiv- ICC ing anchoring means such as means 8 of FIGURE l.

FIGURE 3 shows the intermediate article of this invention wherein a ilrst holder having leg means 4 is integrally joined to a second holder having leg means 4' through those two leg means. This type of article can be readily made by several conventional methods, such as blow molding, vacuum molding, and the like where a material to be formed is formed by pushing or pulling that material against a mold. In order to form two separate holders, the article of FIGURE 3 can be cut through the center line 10 which passes around the periphery of the integrally joined legs of the two holders.

Generally, the holders of this invention can be formed from any conventional material such as metals, thermoplastics, and the like. Presently preferred materials include polyolefins, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, polyesters, polyamides, and the like as well as thermoplastic rubbery materials, all of which are known in the art. Particularly preferred thermoplastics are those homopolymers, copolymers, and blends thereof which are formed from 1-olens having from 2 to 8 carbon atoms per molecule. t

Generally, any conventional and well known forming method can be employed to make the holders of this invention in addition to those mentioned hereinabove, which methods include injection molding, stamping, casting, and the like.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the weight of the receptacle and the relative strength of the holder can be adjusted so that by the weight of the receptacle alone base means 2 is deflected downwardly thereby firmly forcing holding means 5 into engagement with the receptacle. In the alternative, the receptacle can be made suillciently light that relatively little or no holding is effected by holding means 5 until at least some contents are disposed inside the receptacle, at which time holding means 5 will start to grip the receptacle due to the downward deflection of base means 2 and the magnitude of gripping will increase as the contents of the receptacle are added to. Conversely, the container is easily removed by lifting straight up.

A particularly suitable receptacle for use with the holders of this invention is disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 481,309, ledAug. 20, 1965, and of common assignee.

Reasonable variations and modications are possible within the scope of this disclosure without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

We claim:

1. A holder having a base means spaceable above the level Iof a supporting surface of a leg means, upstanding holding means carried by at least one of said base means and said leg means and adapted to engage a receptacle around at least a portion of its periphery at least when said receptacle and/ or any contents therein have suilicient weight to cause a downward deflection of at least a portion of said base means, said holder comprising a base means having a substantially llat, horizontal, at least partly curvilinear sheet of material whose thickness is substantially less than its diameter, a holding means carried by said base means and defined by a rst, elongate, upstanding, hemispherical member whose vertical concave surface faces toward the center of said base means, said first member also being curved in a direction parallel to its axis which is parallel to the upper surface of said base means so that the curvature follows at least a portion of the edge of said base means, the lower edge of said lrst member being integral with the edge of said base means, the upper edge of said rst member terminating in a second elongate, upstanding, hemispherical member of a vertical hemispherical diameter substantially less than the vertical hemispherieal diameter of said first member, said second member having its concave surface facing downwardly and away from the center of said base means, said second member also being curved in a direction parallel to its axis which is parallel to the upper surface of said base means so that the curvature follows at least a portion of the edge of said base means, and leg means for holding said base means away from contact with a supporting surface, said leg means being defined by an annular band having one edge integral with the end of said second member which is not integral with said rst member, said band extending downwardly from said second member, outwardly from said base means, and terminating with a free edge at a point below the lower surface of said base means, said band following the edge of said base means.

2. A holder according to claim 1 wherein said holding means besides being opstanding is inwardly directed so as to more readily engage the periphery of said receptacle.

3. The holder according to claim ll wherein said holder is formed from at least one material selected from the group consisting of plastics, rubber, and mixtures thereof.

4. The holder according to claim l wherein said base means is circular and aperture means is provided in at least one of said base means and said leg means for locking said holder to said supporting surface.

5. The holder according to claim 4 wherein a locking means is operatively connected through said aperture means to at least one of said base means and said leg means.

6. A closed, substantially hollow article comprising at least two holders each holder comprising a base means spaceable above the level of a supporting surface of a leg means, opstanding holding means carried by at least one of said base means and said leg means and adapted to engage a receptacle around at least a portion of its periphery at least when said receptacle and/or any contents therein have suliicient weight to cause a downward deflection of at least a portion of said base means, said at least two holders being integrally joined to one another through the leg means -of each other so that at least two separate holders are formed upon severance of said article through a center line around the periphery of the integrally joined legs of said at least two holders.

'7. The article according to claim 6 wherein said article is formed from at least one of plastics, rubber, and mixtures thereof.

8. The article according to claim 6 wherein means is provided in each holder for locking same to a supporting surface.

References Cited by the Examiner CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

Borah 248-346' 

1. A HOLDER HAVING A BASE MEANS SPACEABLE ABOVE THE LEVEL OF A SUPPORTING SURFACE OF A LEG MEANS, UPSTANDING HOLDING MEANS CARRIED BY AT LEAST ONE OF SAID BASE MEANS AND SAID LEG MEANS AND ADAPTED TO ENGAGE A RECEPTACLE AROUND AT LEAST A PORTION OF ITS PERIPHERY AT LEAST WHEN SAID RECEPTACLE AND/OR ANY CONTENTS THEREIN HAVE SUFFICIENT WEIGHT TO CAUSE A DOWNWARD DEFLECTION OF AT LEAST A PORTION OF SAID BASE MEANS, SAID HOLDER COMPRISING A BASE MEANS HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT, HORIZONTAL, AT LEAST PARTLY CURVILINEAR SHEET OF MATERIAL WHOSE THICKNESS IS SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN ITS DIAMETER, A HOLDING MEANS CARRIED BY SAID BASE MEANS AND DEFINED BY A FIRST, ELONGATE, UPSTANDING, HEMISPHERICAL MEMBER WHOSE VERTICAL CONCAVE SURFACE FACES TOWARD THE CENTER OF SAID BASE MEANS, SAID FIRST MEMBER ALSO BEING CURVED IN A DIRECTION PARALLEL TO ITS AXIS WHICH IS PARALLEL TO THE UPPER SURFACE OF SAID BASE MEANS SO THAT THE CURVATURE FOLLOWS AT LEAST A PORTION OF THE EDGE OF SAID BASE MEANS, THE LOWER EDGE OF SAID FIRST MEMBER BEING INTEGRAL WITH THE EDGE OF SAID BASE MEANS, THE UPPER EDGE OF SAID FIRST MEMBER TERMINATING IN A SECOND ELONGATE, UPSTANDING, HEMISPHERICAL MEMBER OF A VERTICAL HEMISPHERICAL DIAMETER SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN THE VERTICAL HEMISPHERICAL DIAMETER OF SAID FIRST MEMBER, SAID SECOND MEMBER HAVING ITS CONCAVE SURFACE FACING DOWNWARDLY AND AWAY FROM THE CENTER OF SAID BASE MEANS, SAID SECOND MEMBER ALSO BEING CURVED IN A DIRECTION PARALLEL TO ITS AXIS WHICH IS PARALLEL TO THE UPPER SURFACE OF SAID BASE MEANS SO THAT THE CURVATURE FOLLOWS AT LEAST A PORTION OF THE EDGE OF SAID BASE MEANS, AND LEG MEANS FOR HOLDING SAID BASE MEANS AWAY FROM CONTACT WITH A SUPPORTING SURFACE, SAID LEG MEANS BEING DEFINED BY AN ANNULAR BAND HAVING ONE EDGE INTEGRAL WITH THE END OF SAID SECOND MEMBER WHICH IS NOT INTEGRAL WITH SAID FIRST MEMBER, SAID BAND EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY FROM SAID SECOND MEMBER, OUTWARDLY FROM SAID BASE MEANS, AND TERMINATING WITH A FREE EDGE AT A POINT BELOW THE LOWER SURFACE OF SAID BASE MEANS, SAID BAND FOLLOWING THE EDGE OF SAID BASE MEANS. 